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of men in the destruction of the flood when all things on earth were perishing, the God of all preserved. 1.6.4 For indeed, this man, knowing none of the Jewish customs, neither in circumcision of the body nor in the other things ordained by Moses, was nevertheless proclaimed righteous, if any other was. 1.6.5 And before him was Enoch, who is also said to have pleased God and to have been translated so that his death was not found; and he, being of such a character, neither was circumcised in the body nor followed any of the legislation of Moses, but was manifestly shown to live in a Christian and not a Jewish manner. And Abraham himself, who came after the aforementioned and was younger than them in time, but an elder by reason of his age, for the sake of those who were to be born from him, was the first to undergo the circumcision of the body as a kind of seal, handing down this sign to be borne as a mark of his succession by those who would be born from him according to the flesh. 1.6.6 But before the begetting of children and before circumcision, he himself is shown to have lived in a Christian and not a Jewish manner, through his departure from idols and his confession of the one God over all, and through a life of virtue alone. 1.6.7 For it is testified that he kept the ordinances and the commandments and the justifications and the laws of God before the ordinance of Moses. For God says, speaking an oracle to Isaac: “And I will give to your seed all this land, and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham your father obeyed my voice, and kept my commandments and my ordinances, and my justifications, and my laws.” 1.6.8 For even before the law of Moses there were other ordinances of God, and justifications not like those of Moses, and other laws and commandments of Christ, through which they were justified. And that they were not the same as those legislated through Moses, Moses clearly shows in what he says to the people: “Hear, O Israel, the justifications and the judgments, which I speak in your ears this day, and you shall learn them and observe to do them. The Lord your God made a covenant with you in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with you.” 1.6.9 And see how precisely he says “this covenant,” since he had not made the same one with their fathers. For if he had said absolutely that no covenant had been given to their fathers, his statement would have been false. For a covenant was given to Abraham and to Noah, as the sacred oracles testify. For this reason Moses, with an addition, says that not this one was given to their fathers, hinting at another, better and different one, through which they were shown to be beloved of God. 1.6.10 For instance, it is testified by Moses himself that for Abraham righteousness was achieved through faith in the God of all, when he says: “And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” 1.6.11 And the account clearly shows that he received the sign of circumcision after the achievement of righteousness and after the testimony of his piety, and that this contributed nothing to his justification in piety. And you would find that Joseph, before the time of Moses, was brought up in the courts of the Egyptians without observance, and not in a Jewish manner. 1.6.12 And if you wish, you might know that Moses himself, the leader and lawgiver of the Jewish nation, from early infancy spent his time with the daughter of the king of Egypt, and partook of Egyptian food without observance. 1.6.13 Why need I speak of the thrice-blessed Job, that true man, blameless, righteous, God-fearing; what, then, was the cause of his utmost piety and right-doing? Was it the precepts of Moses? By no means. But was it the observance of the sabbath day or the keeping of some other Jewish voluntary worship? How could it be, since he lived in times older than Moses and his legislation? For Moses was the seventh from Abraham

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ἀνθρώπων ἐν τῇ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ φθορᾷ πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀπολλυμένων ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς διεφύλαξεν. 1.6.4 οὐδὲν γοῦν οὐδὲ οὗτος τῶν ἰουδαϊκῶν ἐθῶν ἐπιστάμενος, οὔτε ἐν περιτομῇ σώματος οὔτ' ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς ὑπὸ Μωσέως διατεταγμένοις, ὅμως δίκαιος, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος, ἀνηγόρευται. 1.6.5 καὶ πρό γε τούτου ὁ Ἐνώχ, ὃς καὶ λέγεται εὐηρεστηκέναι τῷ θεῷ καὶ μετατεθεῖσθαι ὡς μὴ εὑρίσκεσθαι αὐτοῦ θάνατον, τοιοῦτος δὲ καὶ οὗτος γεγονὼς οὔτε τὸ σῶμα περιτέτμητο οὔτε τι τῆς Μωσέως μετῄει νομοθεσίας, ἄντικρυς δὲ χριστιανικῶς ἀλλ' οὐχὶ ἰουδαϊκῶς ζῶν ἀναπέφηνε. καὶ αὐτὸς δ' ὁ Ἀβραὰμ μετὰ τοὺς προω νομασμένους γεγονὼς καὶ νεώτερος παρ' αὐτοὺς τοῖς χρόνοις, πρεσβύτης δὲ διὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν, διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας ἐξ αὐτοῦ φῦναι ὥσπερ τινὰ σφραγῖδα τὴν περιτομὴν πρῶτος ὑπέμεινε τοῦ σώματος, γνώρισμα τῆς αὐτοῦ διαδοχῆς τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατὰ σάρκα γενησομένοις τουτὶ τὸ σημεῖον παραδιδοὺς φέρειν· 1.6.6 πρὸ δέ γε τῆς παιδοποιίας καὶ πρὸ τῆς περιτομῆς καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων ἀναχωρήσεως καὶ τῆς ἑνὸς τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων θεοῦ ὁμολογίας καὶ διὰ μόνου τοῦ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίου δείκνυται χριστιανικῶς ἀλλ' οὐχὶ ἰουδαϊκῶς βεβιωκώς. 1.6.7 μεμαρτύρηται γοῦν τὰ προστάγματα καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς τά τε δικαιώματα καὶ τὰ νόμιμα τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸ τῆς Μωσέως διαταγῆς πεφυλαγμένος. λέγει δ' οὖν πρὸς τὸν Ἰσαὰκ χρηματίζων ὁ θεός· «καὶ δώσω τῷ σπέρματί σου πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ταύτην, καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν τῷ σπέρματί σου πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς, ἀνθ' ὧν ὑπήκουσεν Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατήρ σου τῆς ἐμῆς φωνῆς, καὶ ἐφύλαξε τὰς ἐντολάς μου καὶ τὰ προστάγματά μου, καὶ τὰ δικαιώματά μου, καὶ τὰ νόμιμά μου». 1.6.8 Ἦν γὰρ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ Μωσέως νόμου προστάγματα θεοῦ ἕτερα, καὶ δικαιώματα οὐχ ὅμοια τοῖς παρὰ Μωσεῖ, νόμιμά τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐντολαὶ Χριστοῦ, δι' ὧν ἐδικαιώθησαν. ὅτι δ' οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ ἦν τοῖς διὰ Μωσέως νομοθετηθεῖσι σαφῶς ὁ Μωσῆς παρίστησιν ἐν οἷς φησιν πρὸς τὸν λαόν· «ἄκουε Ἰσραὴλ τὰ δικαιώματα καὶ τὰ κρίματα, ὅσα ἐγὼ λαλῶ ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ, καὶ μαθήσεσθε αὐτὰ καὶ φυλάξασθε ποιεῖν αὐτά. κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν διέθετο πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν Χωρὴβ διαθήκην, οὐχὶ τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν διέθετο κύριος τὴν διαθήκην ταύτην, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ὑμᾶς». 1.6.9 Καὶ ὅρα γε ὅπως ἀκριβῶς φησι «τὴν διαθήκην ταύτην», ἐπεὶ μὴ τὴν αὐτὴν τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν διετέθειτο. εἰ δ' οὖν ἀπολύτως μὴ δεδόσθαι τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν διαθήκην εἰρήκει, ψευδὴς ἂν ἦν ὁ λόγος αὐτῷ. δέδοται γοῦν τῷ Ἀβραὰμ διαθήκη καὶ τῷ Νῶε, ὡς τὰ ἱερὰ μαρτυρεῖ λόγια. διὰ τοῦτο μετὰ προσθήκης ὁ Μωσῆς οὐ ταύτην φησὶ δεδόσθαι τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν, ἑτέραν αἰνιττόμενος τὴν κρείττω καὶ διαφέρουσαν, δι' ἧς καὶ θεοφιλεῖς ἀπεφάνθησαν. 1.6.10 αὐτίκα τῷ Ἀβραὰμ διὰ τῆς εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν πίστεως τὰ τῆς δικαιοσύνης κατωρθῶσθαι μεμαρτύρηται ὑπ' αὐτοῦ Μωσέως λέγοντος· «ἐπίστευσε δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην». 1.6.11 ὅτι δὲ μετὰ τὴν τῆς δικαιοσύνης κατόρθωσιν καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐπ' εὐσεβείᾳ μαρτυρίαν τὸ τῆς περιτομῆς εἴληφε σημεῖον καὶ μηδὲν πρὸς εὐσεβείας δικαίωσιν αὐτῷ τουτὶ συνεβάλλετο, σαφῶς ὁ λόγος παρίστησιν. Εὕροις δ' ἂν καὶ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ πρὸ τῶν Μωσέως χρόνων ἐν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίων βασιλείοις ἀπαραφυλάκτως ἀλλ' οὐκ ἰουδαϊκῶς ἀχθέντα. 1.6.12 εἰ δὲ θέλεις, καὶ τὸν κορυφαῖον αὐτὸν καὶ νομοθέτην τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους Μωσέα γνοίης ἂν ἐξ ἔτι νηπίας ἡλικίας παρὰ τῇ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου βασιλέως θυγατρὶ τὰς διατριβὰς πεποιημένον, τροφῆς τε τῆς Αἰγυπτίας ἀπαρατηρήτως μετειληχότα. 1.6.13 Τί δεῖ λέγειν τὸν τρισμακάριον Ἰώβ, τὸν ἀληθῆ ἄνθρωπον ἐκεῖνον, τὸν ἄμεμπτον, τὸν δίκαιον, τὸν θεοσεβῆ, τῆς εἰς ἄκρον εὐσεβείας αὐτῷ καὶ δικαιοπραγίας τίς ἄρα αἰτία ἦν; μή τί γε τὰ Μωσέως παραγγέλματα; οὐδαμῶς. ἀλλὰ σαββάτου ἡμέρας ἐπιτήρησις ἦν ἤ τινος ἄλλης ἰουδαϊκῆς ἐθελοθρησκείας φυλακή; πόθεν, πρεσβυτέρῳ τοῖς χρόνοις Μωσέως καὶ τῆς κατ' αὐτὸν νομοθεσίας γενομένῳ; ὁ μὲν γὰρ Μωσῆς ἕβδομος ἐξ Ἀβραὰμ